David J Yang

yc founder worth following

ex compsci @penn
ex @amazon, @idler_ai, @reticularai, @scale_AI

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@johnyang100
raising off our anthropic citation was a trip

https://t.co/5xuyssrtBV

[Reticular (YC F24) @ReticularAI]

A First Step Towards Interpretable Protein Structure Prediction

With SAEFold, we enable mechanistic interpretability on ESMFold, a protein structure prediction model, for the first time.

Watch @NithinParsan demo a case study here w/ links for paper & open-source code 👇

[David J Yang @djyang1]

second time founders doing yc for the first time
which yc-ism did you wish you heard the first time

[Tony Xavier @TonyXavier_]

People often ask me how @ycombinator actually helps

- instills urgency
- everyone’s pushed to be more ambitious (like way more)
- network
- 1:1 mentorship (worth everything if you’re doubting YC)
- incredible friends

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@TonyXavier_ @ycombinator i was considering doing a diff accelerator
everyone i knew that did yc told me that it's more than i thought
highkey it is

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@mwfowlie np! what're you building (feel free to dm me)

[David J Yang @djyang1]

ok screw it i need followers
YC application tips below 🧵 and I'll respond to every comment with genuine thoughts and open DMs

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@adisingh fair nuff

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@mwfowlie this is a good question and candidly one I didn't have to figure out. I would recommend starting with smaller ACV and try to wedge-out the mid-market version with the same software if possible.

Investors do have the capability to extrapolate.

Inspiration https://t.co/26XtBiAWc7

[Y Combinator @ycombinator]

Startups That Sell to the Biggest Companies in the World
@bradflora & @aroraharshita33

For the first time, a 2–3 person team can land a pilot with a Fortune 10 company before the ink is dry on their incorporation docs.

AI has made the buyers reachable, the product shippable fast, and the ROI obvious to even the largest organizations in the world.

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@josephjojoe this is actually a killer congrats

[David J Yang @djyang1]

3. when you get an interview do anything you can to get mocked by anyone with a startup or a background that looks like yours
i.e. if you're doing b2b in a niche market find someone else who can help you convey all the work you've done for a hard startup idea

[David J Yang @djyang1]

2. be completely unfocused on "getting into YC" but don't close a pre-seed round before you at least have been building for once yc batch cycle (i.e. bootstrap for 3 months)

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@x6urb thanks matt :D

[David J Yang @djyang1]

everyone's so quick to talk about ngmi
are you ready to be nggm (never gonna get married)

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@marco_dewey but not you Marco*
damn too late

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@PashaBorsai absolutely not haha

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@deepak_scope baha ok

[David J Yang @djyang1]

everyone thinking of applying to yc some day try to grow your twitter before the batch this is exhausting lol

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@dr_chrisjones thank you dr jones 🙏

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@Asht0nNath XYC v impt
imo its good for launching + networking esp if ur doing tech for tech ppl

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@RAnSacks thanks rachael imma keep be doin me

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@x6urb im just dramatic i asked for it

[David J Yang @djyang1]

@michwirantono @UseCorgi @erikalee the geo battles are always heating up